Mexican Exodus

American Catholic Studies Young's wide variety of sources such as personal correspondence, the emigrant press, and oral interviews with exile families creates the underpinnings of this far-ranging, yet concise treatment...[T]his study provides a valuable contribution for academic and general readers who wish to understand the Cristero War better.

American Historical Review [A] thoroughly researched, eminently readable examination of the transnational nature of the Cristero Rebellion (1926-1929)...Young has produced a work that is at times thrilling and sentimental This painstakingly researched book, appropriate for undergraduate surveys and more advanced seminars, makes a clear contribution to the literature and deserves a wide readership.

Timothy Matovina, author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church
Scholars frequently note that a hemispheric approach is necessary to grasp the full significance of diasporic events. Now we have such a study for Mexico's Cristero Rebellion. Mexican Exodus interweaves intriguing anecdotes with superb analysis to examine the lives of Cristeros who crossed over to the United States, the fellow migrants who resisted their cause, and government and church officials on both sides of the border who intervened.

Matthew Butler, author of Popular Piety and Political Identity in Mexico's Cristero Rebellion: Michoacn, 1927-1929
Mexican Exodus provides a welcome transnational history of Mexico's Cristero Rebellion. On one hand, it reveals how Mexican Catholic exiles in the U.S. worked to influence the religious situation back home as propagandists, smugglers, and Borderlands fighters. On the other, it makes a suggestive argument concerning the importance of cristero activism to Mexican-American identity formation. The diasporic focus is original and fresh: Young tracks patterns of cristero militancy along migrant routes and through multiple Borderlands encounters, showing how a nationalistic crusade was, paradoxically, key to imagining a 'greater Mexico.'

Margaret Chowning, Professor of history, University of California, Berkeley
This fascinating story of a Catholic diaspora in the U.S. impresses us with the sophistication of its transnational frame and with the acuity of its insights into both Mexican politics and the development of Mexican American communities, even as it delights and moves us with its personal stories and colorful vignettes.

Julia G. Young is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at The Catholic University of America.

Acknowledgments Introduction: A Desert Uprising 1) A History of Faith and Conflic 2) Religious Refugees, Political Exiles, and the U.S. Catholic Church 3) "In Defense of Their Brothers Beyond the Rio Grande" 4) Bishops, Knights, Border Guards, and Spies 5) After the Arreglos 6) Memories, Myths, and Martyrs Epilogue: Cristeros Resurgent Notes Bibliography Index